Ji Yuan stood blankly on the side of the road for a few minutes until a taxi drove by. Then he came to his senses and waved to stop it.
There was a bit of traffic on New Year's Eve, and it took Ji Yuan more than forty minutes to get home.
Back in the familiar safe zone, Ji Yuan was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. He sat in the entrance hall for most of the day, then rushed to the bedroom and took out a crumpled napkin and an old-fashioned phone worth less than a hundred yuan from under his pillow.
Ji Yuan took out his old mobile phone, removed the SIM card and stuffed it into the closet. Then, with trembling hands, he inserted the card into the old phone, entered the number one digit at a time according to what was written on the napkin with sauce, and finally pressed the dial button.
The "beep" sound of the call being successfully connected came to his ears. Ji Yuan waited quietly for the other party to answer, but his mind couldn't help but recall the afternoon when Xie Wenxuan invited them to Cheng Zui's fan meeting.
In the private room of Taoranju, Shen Antu knocked over the milk tea, and soiled the cell phone and Xie Wenxuan's pants. Xie Wenxuan had to go to the bathroom to clean up, and took Shen Antu's cell phone with him. So only Shen Antu and Ji Yuan were left in the room.
"It's so boring. Ji Yuan, where's your cell phone? Take it out and play a few songs." Shen Antu said.
"What do you want to hear?" Ji Yuan took out his cell phone. This new phone was given to him by Xie Duo. His old phone was temporarily taken away by Xie Duo under a confidentiality agreement. Although Ji Yuan was reluctant, he had to rely on him to pay off his debts after all. As for what was in this new phone, Ji Yuan could probably guess a little.
Shen Antu replied: "Let's play some heavy metal rock. The more addictive the better."
Ji Yuan didn't doubt him and played a classic nightclub rock DJ song: "Is this one okay?"
"Okay." After saying that, Shen Antu took his phone, turned up the volume, and threw it in the corner of the box.
"What are you doing?" Ji Yuan looked at his actions strangely.
"Let's eat." Shen Antu walked back to the dining table, but instead of returning to his own seat, he pulled open the seat next to Ji Yuan and sat down. Then, while Ji Yuan was stunned, he lifted a corner of his coat and found the cigarettes and lighter in the inside pocket as if he knew the way.
"After so many years, you still like to put the cigarettes here." Shen Antu whispered in Ji Yuan's ear.
Ji Yuan felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him from head to toe.
He stared at Shen Antu intently, watching him take a cigarette out of his mouth. His slender fingers moved, and the lighter made a "click" sound. The sound was very much like the gunshot at the beginning of the game. Gunpowder smoke came out of the muzzle, and the stopwatch started timing at this moment.
"You... you remembered everything?!"
"I don't have much time, Ji Yuan, don't waste your time on this kind of problem," Shen Antu held a cigarette in his mouth, his peach blossom eyes curved like a fox. In the manic rock music and the smell of nicotine, he finally revealed his "Shen Lin" nature. He whispered in Ji Yuan's ear as if he was whispering to his lover, "Do me a favor, Ji Yuan, I want to contact Jinsheng."
Almost at the same time, Xie Duo's face and the sky-high price of the confidentiality agreement flashed before his eyes. Ji Yuan immediately shook his head: "No!"
"Why not? Don't you want to live a normal life?" Shen Antu put one hand around the back of Ji Yuan's chair and leaned shoulder to shoulder with him, like a wolf that had trapped its prey in its hunting range.
Ji Yuan was speechless. He watched the smile on Shen Antu's face disappear.
"You can't bear to leave Xie Duo?"
Shen Antu's words burned Ji Yuan like a tongue of fire, and Ji Yuan immediately stood up from his chair: "I didn't!"
"Shh—" Shen Antu put his index finger on his lips, pulled Ji Yuan to sit down again, and put on Shen Lin's signature smile again, "I know what type you like, a good-looking, cold, and slightly S-like man. Nine years ago, you were attracted to this aspect of me, wasn't it?"
"I really don't have any other thoughts about Xie Duo, believe me!" Ji Yuan's face was full of panic, and his palms began to sweat. He had seen Shen Lin's methods a few years ago. He could confront the amnesiac Shen Antu, but he would never dare to confront Shen Lin. "Xie Duo is indeed my type. I admit that sometimes I can't help but look at him, but I swear I definitely don't want to steal him from you!"
"Then why don't you take the chance I'm giving you to leave? If Xie Duo can help you pay off your debt, so can I." Shen Antu leaned back in his chair and placed the cigarette he had lit but never smoked on Ji Yuan's plate. "You may not know that I've been thinking about how to pick out these two crystal beads on your face for several days. Do you want to hear the details?"
Ji Yuan was speechless, and Shen Antu certainly didn't want to hear his answer, so he stabbed his chopsticks into the roast duck meat.
"I hate you, Ji Yuan. I hated you nine years ago, and unfortunately I hate you even more now."
Ji Yuan didn't know where he got the courage from: "If you hate me so much, why did you stop me at the Duran Club?"
"Oh, of course it's because I need you," Shen Antu answered frankly, not hiding his sinisterness, "It's just as you thought. I need someone to help me keep Xie Duo from contacting Jinsheng. This person must have nothing to do with my past self, and you just happened to show up."
Ji Yuan gritted his teeth: "Shen Lin you fucking... Isn't it interesting to be able to hold someone in your hands at will?"
Shen Antu narrowed his eyes: "Don't you know best whether it's interesting or not? Ji Yuan, don't forget what you have done to me. You owe me."